Which to use
“foetus” and “fontes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,318
- “foetus” frequency rank
- #46,178
- “fontes” frequency rank
- 71496
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foetus | fontes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Variante orthographique de fœtus. | Fourreau de cuir pour les pistolets. |
Where the eye mixes foetus and fontes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. foetus (CVVCVC) and fontes (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between foetus and fontes
A purely visual mix-up. foetus (\ˈfi.təs\) and fontes (\fɔ̃t\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71496, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
foetus is recorded at frequency rank #25,318, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈfi.təs\. fontes is at rank #46,178, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɔ̃t\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 71496, this pair ranks #47,371 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of foetus vs fontes
Shared letters: efost. Private to "foetus": u. Private to "fontes": n.
"foetus" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "fontes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "foetus" for "fontes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "foetus" or "fontes"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "foetus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fontes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #47,371 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foetus" and "fontes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foies vs fontes". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #47,371 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.